AI – beSpacifichttps://www.bespacific.com
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002Fri, 13 Sep 2019 02:11:24 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.11If Computers Are So Smart, How Come They Can’t Read?https://www.bespacific.com/if-computers-are-so-smart-how-come-they-cant-read/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 22:55:32 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71595Wired – Deep learning excels at learning statistical correlations, but lacks robust ways of understanding how the meanings of sentences relate to their parts. “…drill down into tools like Google Talk to Books (GTB) and you quickly realize we are nowhere near genuine machine reading yet. When we asked GTB, “Where did Harry Potter meet Hermione Granger?” only six of the 20 answers were even about Harry Potter; most of the rest were about other people named Harry or on completely unrelated topics. Only one mentioned Hermione, and none answered the question. When we asked GTB, “Who was the oldest Supreme Court justice in 1980?” we got another fail. Any reasonably bright human could go to Wikipedia’s list of Supreme Court justices and figure out that it was William Brennan. Google Talk to Books couldn’t; no sentence in any book that it had digested spelled out the answer in full, and it had no way to make inferences beyond what was directly spelled out.

The most telling problem, though, was that we got totally different answers depending on how we asked the question. When we asked GTB, “Who betrayed his teacher for 30 pieces of silver?” a famous incident in a famous story, only three out of the 20 correctly identified Judas. Things got even worse as we strayed from the exact wording of “pieces of silver.” When we asked a slightly less specific questions, “Who betrayed his teacher for 30 coins?” Judas only turned up in one of the top 20 answers; and when we asked “Who sold out his teacher for 30 coins?” Judas disappeared from the top 20 results altogether…”

]]>How an AI archive platform is helping a Victorian library keep up with datahttps://www.bespacific.com/how-an-ai-archive-platform-is-helping-a-victorian-library-keep-up-with-data/
Tue, 10 Sep 2019 23:12:56 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71570ZDNet – A proof of concept has been built to remove the need to manually archive catalogues — a process that has been used for over the last 20 years. “Victoria’s Stonnington Libraries together with Civica have developed an artificial intelligence-based proof-of-concept solution to remove the manual work involved with cataloguing and searching through library archive databases. Civica developed the prototype solution using Azure Blob Storage to store the files, Azure Cognitive Services to create meta information of each file, and Microsoft AI to create a searchable catalogue. Initially, digital images such as photos, maps, scans, and sketches, as well as PDF-format text style documents, including minutes of meetings, flyers, newspapers, articles, and community group newsletters have been fed into the prototype digital archive. Prior to building this platform for the last 20 years, the library had been manually cataloguing its archive database…”
]]>The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Law: Basic Questionshttps://www.bespacific.com/the-ethics-of-artificial-intelligence-in-law-basic-questions/
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 19:33:10 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71523Surden, Harry, The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Law: Basic Questions (August 22, 2019). Forthcoming chapter in Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI, 2020. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3441303 [h/t Joe Hodnicki]
“Ethical issues surrounding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in law often share a common theme. As AI becomes increasingly integrated within the legal system, how can society ensure that core legal values are preserved? Among the most important of these legal values are: equal treatment under the law; public, unbiased, and independent adjudication of legal disputes; justification and explanation for legal outcomes; outcomes based upon law, principle, and facts rather than social status or power; outcomes premised upon reasonable, and socially justifiable grounds; the ability to appeal decisions and seek independent review; procedural fairness and due process; fairness in design and application of the law; public promulgation of laws; transparency in legal substance and process; adequate access to justice for all; integrity and honesty in creation and application of law; and judicial, legislative, and administrative efficiency. The use of AI in law may diminish or enhance how these values are actually expressed within the legal system or alter their balance relative to one another. This chapter surveys some of the most important ethical topics involving the use of AI within the legal system itself (but not its use within society more broadly) and examines how central legal values might unintentionally (or intentionally) change with increased use of AI in law.”
]]>Study finds Big Data eliminates confidentiality in court judgementshttps://www.bespacific.com/study-finds-big-data-eliminates-confidentiality-in-court-judgements/
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 01:06:42 +0000https://bespacific.com/?p=71465swissinfo: “Swiss researchers have found that algorithms that mine large swaths of data can eliminate anonymity in federal court rulings. This could have major ramifications for transparency and privacy protection. This is the result of a study by the University of Zurich’s Institute of Law, published in the legal journal “Jusletter” and shared by Swiss public television SRFexternal link on Monday. The study relied on a “web scraping technique” or mining of large swaths of data. The researchers created a database of all decisions of the Supreme Court available online from 2000 to 2018 – a total of 122,218 decisions. Additional decisions from the Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Office of Public Health were also added…”
]]>Can AI Hold Patents?https://www.bespacific.com/can-ai-hold-patents/
Wed, 04 Sep 2019 23:27:19 +0000https://bespacific.com/?p=71463Law.com – Can AI Hold Patents? Quick Takes on the USPTO’s Questions About Artificial Intelligence – “Academics have been debating for a while whether machines can be inventors for the purposes of patent law. Earlier this month, University of Surrey IP professor Ryan Abbott and others upped the ante, forming the Artificial Inventor Project and filing patents around the world that list an AI machine as the inventor…”
]]>Lawyering Somewhere Between Computation and the Will to Act: A Digital Age Reflectionhttps://www.bespacific.com/lawyering-somewhere-between-computation-and-the-will-to-act-a-digital-age-reflection/
Wed, 28 Aug 2019 16:02:49 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71377Lipshaw, Jeffrey M., Lawyering Somewhere Between Computation and the Will to Act: A Digital Age Reflection (August 5, 2019). Legal Studies Research Paper Series Research Paper 19-21 August 5, 2019. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3432635 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3432635

“This is a reflection on machine and human contributions to lawyering in the digital age. Increasingly capable machines can already unleash massive processing power on vast stores of discovery and research data to assess relevancies and, at times, to predict legal outcomes. At the same time, there is wide acceptance, at least among legal academics, of the conclusions from behavioral psychology that slow, deliberative “System 2” thinking (perhaps replicated computationally) needs to control the heuristics and biases to which fast, intuitive “System 1” thinking is prone. Together, those trends portend computational deliberation – artificial intelligence or machine learning – substituting for human thinking in more and more of a lawyer’s professional functions.Yet, unlike machines, human lawyers are self-reproducing automata. They can perceive purposes and have a will to act that cannot be reduced to mere third-party scientific explanation. For all its power, computational intelligence is unlikely to evolve intuition, insight, creativity, and the will to change the objective world, characteristics as human as System 1 thinking’s heuristics and biases. We therefore need to be circumspect about the extent to which we privilege System 2-like deliberation (particularly that which can be replicated computationally) over uniquely human contributions to lawyering: those mixed blessings like persistence, passion, and the occasional compulsiveness.

]]>A Primer on Using Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Professionhttps://www.bespacific.com/a-primer-on-using-artificial-intelligence-in-the-legal-profession/
Wed, 28 Aug 2019 15:24:27 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71367LexBlog – A Primer on Using Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Profession: “What’s artificial intelligence (“AI”) and why should lawyers care about it? On a practical level, lawyers should be aware that software powered by AI already carries out legal tasks. Within a few years, AI will be taking over (or at least affecting) a significant amount of work now done by lawyers. Thirty-nine percent of in-house counsel”> expect that AI will be commonplace in legal work within ten years. On a more philosophical level, lawyers should understand that the “decisions” made by AI-powered software will raise significant legal questions, including those of tort liability and of criminal guilt. For example, if AI is controlling a driverless car and someone’s killed in an accident, who’s at fault? While the philosophical questions are important to resolve, this Comment will focus on the practical issues. To provide an overview of what AI is and how it will be used in the legal profession, this Comment addresses several questions…”
]]>As Search Engines Increasingly Turn To AI They Are Harming Searchhttps://www.bespacific.com/as-search-engines-increasingly-turn-to-ai-they-are-harming-search/
Sun, 25 Aug 2019 18:50:45 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71294Forbes – “For more than half a century our digital search engines have relied upon the humble keyword. Yet over the past few years, search engines of all kinds have increasingly turned to deep learning-powered categorization and recommendation algorithms to augment and slowly replace the traditional keyword search. Behavioral and interest-based personalization has further eroded the impact of keyword searches, meaning that if ten people all search for the same thing, they may all get different results. As search engines depreciate traditional raw “search” in favor of AI-assisted navigation, the concept of informational access is being harmed and our digital world is being redefined by the limitations of today’s AI…”
]]>Google adding autocorrect to Gmailhttps://www.bespacific.com/google-adding-autocorrect-to-gmail/
Thu, 22 Aug 2019 21:31:24 +0000https://www.bespacific.com/?p=71278Google GSuite Blog: “We’re introducing new spelling and grammar correction capabilities for Gmail to help you compose emails quickly with confidence. As you type your message, Gmail will use artificial intelligence to make smarter spell-check suggestions while also detecting potential grammar issues. For some common spelling mistakes, we’ve also added as-you-type autocorrection for improved accuracy. Read more here about how grammar suggestions work…”
]]>CRS Report to Congress on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systemshttps://www.bespacific.com/crs-report-to-congress-on-lethal-autonomous-weapon-systems/
Wed, 21 Aug 2019 22:44:58 +0000https://bespacific.com/?p=71266The following is the August 16, 2019 Congressional Research Service In Focus report – International Discussions Concerning Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. “As technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), advances, lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS)—weapons designed to make decisions about using lethal force without manual human control—may soon make their appearance, raising a number of potential ethical, diplomatic, legal, and strategic concerns for Congress. By providing a brief overview of ongoing international discussions concerning LAWS, this In Focus seeks to assist Congress as it conducts oversight hearings on AI within the military (as the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services have done in recent years), guides U.S. foreign policy, and makes funding and authorization decisions related to LAWS…”
]]>Modernization of Secrecy System is Stalledhttps://www.bespacific.com/modernization-of-secrecy-system-is-stalled/
Wed, 21 Aug 2019 22:23:35 +0000https://bespacific.com/?p=71262Secrecy News: “Today’s national security classification system “relies on antiquated policies from another era that undercut its effectiveness today,” the Information Security Oversight Office told the President in a report released yesterday. Modernizing the system is a “government-wide imperative,” the new ISOO annual report said. But that is a familiar refrain by now. It is much the same message that was delivered with notable urgency by ISOO in last year’s annual report which found that the secrecy system is “hamstrung by old practices and outdated technology.” The precise nature of the modernization that is needed is a subject of some disagreement. Is it a matter of improving efficiency in order to cope with expanding digital information flows? Or have the role of secrecy and the proper scope of classification changed in a fundamental way? Whatever the goal, no identifiable progress has been made over the past year in overcoming those obsolete practices, and no new investment has been made in a technology strategy to help modernize national security information policy. In fact, ISOO’s own budget for secrecy oversight has been reduced. Even agencies that are making use of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics in other areas have not considered their application to classification or declassification, ISOO said. “These technologies remain untapped in this area.” At some point, the failure to update secrecy policy becomes a choice to let the secrecy system fail. “We’re ringing the alarm bells as loud as we can,” said ISOO director Mark A. Bradley…”
]]>ABA Votes to Urge Legal Profession to Address Emerging Legal and Ethical Issues of AIhttps://www.bespacific.com/aba-votes-to-urge-legal-profession-to-address-emerging-legal-and-ethical-issues-of-ai/
Thu, 15 Aug 2019 03:13:37 +0000https://bespacific.com/?p=71174Robert Ambrogi – LawSites: “The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, its policy-making body, voted this week to approve a resolution urging courts and lawyers to address the emerging ethical and legal issues related to the usage of artificial intelligence in the practice of law. Among the AI-related issues the profession should address, the ABA said, are bias, explainability, and transparency of automated decisions made by AI; ethical and beneficial usage of AI; and controls and oversight of AI and the vendors that provide AI…”
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